Ever heard of this? Friend can't remember faces.

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

We've had this friend for about 15 years now. Well, he's DH's friend really, I probably see him every 6 months or so.

Aaaanyway, apparently he has trouble remembering faces. So much so, that if he hasn't seen DH for a few months, he has trouble recognising him. If he's expecting DH, say, in the pub, then it's fine, but if he bumps into DH in the street, it can really throw him.

Is there a name for it?

I'm just being nosey really.

"Being pissed"

hth

Prosopagnosia

I don't know the name, but it does happen with people who are on the autistic spectrum. Ds1 is 7 and has aspergers syndrome- he seems to remember hair far more than faces and so he thinks all bald men could be our 2 bald friens and often asks if ladies with a perm are Grandma. He knows these people very well by the way.

Yes, it's quite common. I suffer from it mildly. It can be really embarrassing - I once didn't recognise my own father.

Oooh, you're a clever bunch aren't you.

Apart from Fabio

I have it - I can recognise people I know well by the way they move and their voices though, so I'm ok if people are moving/talking. I try to avoid having to meet people in public places (e.g. another mum in the park) where I might have to pick them out of a crowd.

Millarkie, when you hear someone's name does it all click back into place? Or does it take longer? Do you have to relearn their features each time?

Happened to my dad after a stroke. As TFM said it's called prosopagnosia. Some fascinating cases if you read up on it.

I have heard of it.

TBH I struggle to recognise people out of context. EG if I see one of the mums from school at the supermarket very often I can't place them.

I didn't know it had a name! I am awful with out of context meetings and hardly ever remember people that I have only met once. I rarely get an instant click back into place quickly, but find that if I spend longer with them I begin to get the more rounded knowledge and memories back of being with them before.

I never know if its because I have a "busy head" and don't focus properly when I am introduced to people, or whether I drink too much (so never remember being introduced to people at weddings etc because I would subsequently get pissed), but it happens when I havem't been drinking too, or if it was something to do with being deprived of oxygen at birth (blue, cord round neck lots of times, took a while to get me breathing). Both my brothers are also crap with name and faces, however (though not as bad as me).

I think with our friend its different from being "a bit crap" with names and faces. Honestly DH knows him well, they're old friends, but lately life has taken over and they don't see each other as much as they used to. And friend still has to think "oh that's the tall one, that must be xxx"

my DS (now 17) has this problem and he has aspergers syndrome. it used to by quite extreme - he wouldnt got with his father once after he had had a hair cut, he kept saying "your not my dad"....used to be quite problematic!

I saw this featured in a documentary - a little girl had this type of thing. It must have been quite extreme because they took her to a supermarket, got the mum to change clothes and the little was so confused as she couldn't recognise her mum due to the change.

I have said for ages I am bad at faces...scientifically proven when the Times Body and Soul supplement did an article where they had pictures of slebs without their hair and I struggled to guess any of them!

This is a useful test if you think you suffer from prosopagnosia.

I just got 88% on that face test which really surprises me!

I always thought I was rubbish with faces, and DH is always astounded at how I can't recognise people when he can.

I must just be crap at names and/or placing people.

I just did that test and as someone who doesnt view themselves as having much of a problem recognising people it seemed really difficult. But I did get an average result. Can imagine it must be really really difficult for people who have trouble recognising.

only 63% here - and I would not have thought I had a problem with faces really (until now)

I got 50% which didn't surprise me as I already knew I had this problem.

I've done that test before and got 40%, I do really struggle with faces.

I moved to a new village once and had to memorise everyones' car number plates so I knew who it was. So I could rememebr that the woman who drove a Fiesta Y56 FHT was called Sue. Obviously if they were walking this didn't work so well.

I'm sure people think I'm very rude sometimes.

And at work it can be very bad. As a midwife I looked after a woman in labour for my whole shift, she had the baby. I left the room for 20mins came back. She's had a bath and got dressed and I got her and her friend muddled up and thought her friend was the one who'd just had the baby.

I have this too worse at time than others. For me it happened suddenly ( after a medical emergency) I think it can go with migraine too. I used to be poor with voices but now I use their voice or other clues like how people walk/move or dress. Changes in hairstyle throw me completely. My son who is autistic is quite good with faces. He always repeats patterns of behaviour like hugging certain people so that guides me too. It is very difficult for me. People treat me as rude although my closest freinds know.

Ooh 93%!

Amazing how many of us there are. I feel quite cheerful now. It's always been my big dark secret.

69% - but one of those faces looked just like a friends so don't know how that affected the scoring